A talented wicketkeeper-batsman, Matthew Wade confirmed himself as next in line behind Brad Haddin and Tim Paine when he was picked for the Twenty20s against South Africa in 2011. The call-up was no surprise after a summer in which Wade was the second-leading run scorer in the Ryobi Cup. He had also enjoyed two productive Sheffield Shield campaigns - 677 runs in 2009-10 and 553 runs the following summer. His most important contribution came in the 2009-10 Shield final, when he rescued Victoria's first innings with 96, a key factor in them taking the title.

Once in the Australian team, Wade took his opportunities well, scoring runs and keeping tidily in the Twenty20 internationals and ODIs. However, his big break came when Haddin was forced to miss the Test series in the West Indies due to personal reasons. Wade grabbed his chance, scoring 106 in the third Test and dominating the bowling on a pitch where most of the other batsmen struggled to score quickly.

That maiden Test century was a huge moment in Wade's career, but the fact that he played any international cricket at all was a credit to his self-belief and his mental toughness: when only 16, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and required two cycles of chemotherapy to defeat the illness. Then, at 19, he made another crucial move, from Hobart to Melbourne, when he realised he would be stuck behind his childhood mate Tim Paine in the Tasmanian wicketkeeping queue. The Bushrangers immediately gave him a chance, and he grabbed it, making 83 and pouching six catches on his first-class debut. A talented left-hand batsman, Wade's glovework improved dramatically during his time with Victoria and in 2008-09 he compiled a Victorian record 57 Sheffield Shield dismissals. That summer he also stood up in the decider, scoring 70. Wade was a talented junior footballer - his father Scott played in the VFL for Hawthorn - but at 170cm decided he was too short to make a career out of it and pursued cricket instead.
Brydon Coverdale